Winter squash is one of my favorite foods. I eat so much of it during the autumn and winter seasons that the palms of my hands actually turn orange (just an interesting indication that I am getting plenty of beta carotene from my intake of orange and green veggies).
Given my love for winter squash, including its wonderful health benefits, it is no surprise that I look forward to enjoying it as part of a Thanksgiving feast.
The first Thanksgiving way back in 1621 celebrated the bounty of the 17th century Plymouth, Massachusetts’s landscape. The menu was, by definition, seasonal and local. Squash was one of the foods thought to be on that original Thanksgiving table. Interestingly, cranberry sauce, white potatoes, ham, and pie crust were decidedly missing from that first Thanksgiving feast – sugar was scarce and potatoes, pigs, and wheat hadn’t yet made their way across the big pond. Read more
My sweet friend, former Bastyr classmate, and colleague, Jen Koorenny, MS RD, kindly sent me the following website in response to my recent post on buying local, seasonal produce.
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture provides a resource that “shows common origins of more than 95 different produce commodities that are shipped into or across the United States each year.” Simply select a commodity from the drop down menu and it will calculate the product’s origin, volume of shipments per year, the leading US state producing that commodity, and the percent of shipments per month. The last indicator gives you a sense of when that commodity is in season.
Try it out…you might be surprised how far your food travels to get to your local grocery store!
Thanks, Jen!
One of my favorite summertime salads is Mozzarella Caprese. It is simple and delicious.
There are a few variations to this easy recipe. This is a classic version using local, vine-ripened tomatoes, fragrant young basil, and fresh mozzarella.
Ingredients:
2 fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes, thinly sliced (1/4”)
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese packed in water, thinly sliced (1/4”)
10-15 leaves fresh basil, chopped
Extra virgin olive
Sea salt
Pepper
Balsamic vinegar (optional)
Directions:
1. Arrange tomato slices on plate
2. Place a mozzarella slice on each tomato
3. Top with chopped basil
4. Drizzle with olive oil
5. Salt and pepper to taste
6. Add splash of balsamic vinegar for a tangy flavor
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4-6
And if you are feeling creative, substitute the fresh mozzarella with a simple homemade cheese. Think of it as your very own home science project with tasty results. In my food science lab, during graduate school, we made a quick recipe that was “technically” considered cheese. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. Here’s how:
1. Bring half gallon of milk to near boil
2. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and stir until curds form and whey (the liquid) separates
3. Strain the cheese in a colander lined with cheese cloth
That’s it! The cheese is ready to enjoy…get out the basil and tomatoes!
If you are a bit more ambitious, try making your own homemade mozzarella cheese. Cheesemaking.com has a 30 minute mozzarella and ricotta cheese recipe with step-by-step instructions including photos.
My mom will be visiting next week. We plan to try Cheesemaking.com’s recipe. Stay tuned for the review!
Cheers!
Jess
Jessica Adlin, MS RD
It’s Summertime!! And the living is easy…warm weather, long, sunny days, and local produce is bountiful and delicious.
Our food choices directly affect the health of our planet. Buying season, locally grown food reduces our carbon footprint, checking global warming.
Most produce grown in the United States travels an average of 1500 miles to reach your plate. And that doesn’t account for the products shipped here from around the globe. Transporting produce (and other goods) from around the country and around the world racks up global warming emissions.
There are a handful of simple things we can do to make food choices that are more sustainable:
- Find a Farmer’s Market near you and support your local farmers.
- Buy produce only when it’s in season. It tastes so much better, it’s more nutritious, and it’s a real treat.Don’t know what’s growing in your area? Go to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Based on your location and time of year, it will give you a list of what’s in season near you.Let me give you an example. Here’s a just a sampling of the fresh produce growing in Washington state right now:
Apricots, Beans, Beets, Blackberries, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Chard, Collard greens, Cucumbers, Currants, Eggplant, Hearty greens (bok choy, kale, mustard greens), Jerusalem artichokes, Leaf lettuce, Melon, Nectarines, Onions, Peaches, Peas, Peppers, Plums, Potatoes, Radishes, Raspberries, Rutabagas, Spinach, Strawberries, Summer squash, Sweet cherries, Tomatoes, Turnips.
What’s growing in your neighborhood?
- Learn to can, freeze, or dry some of summer’s bounty to enjoy during the winter when seasonal choices are limited.
- Be aware of where your food is grown. We often expect to be able to buy strawberries in January without even thinking about where in the world these strawberries are coming from. If in doubt of the country (or location) of origin, ask your grocer.
- Avoid the hotlist of produce that is flown in from around the world to satisfy our demand for “fresh” produce all year long. Again, it’s important to know where your food is coming from. The NRDC provides this list of “Frequent Fliers” including their country of origin:
Asparagus (Peru)
Bell peppers (Netherlands)
Tomatoes (Netherlands)
Blackberries (Chile)
Blueberries (Argentina)
Cherries (Chile)
Raspberries (Chile)
Peaches (Chile)
Nectarines (Chile)
Papayas (Brazil)
Be good to yourself and good to the planet…Enjoy the season and take in all it has to offer!
Be well,
Jess
Jessica Adlin, MS RD
Grocery Shopping Tours are a great hands-on way to learn about good nutrition. With a nutritionist as your guide, nutrition 101 is made simple as together you explore the store – learn how to choose healthy, whole food options for meals and snacks. Be a better consumer by learning to read and understand food labels. A personalized grocery tour is tailored just for you, giving you the tips and information you need to help you meet your health and wellness goals.
Read the this article in the Seattle Times. It gives you a sneak peak at a grocery tour we led last week!
Be well-
Jess
Jessica Adlin MS, CN
Garlic has a colorful history. It has been used for everything from enhancing one’s love life as an aphrodisiac, to an object 
of worship by the Egyptians, to warding off vampires and protecting against the “evil eye.” It was used by Grecian athletes as a strength enhancer, and given to soldiers before they went off to war. All of that aside, garlic does offer cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral benefits, and may protect against some forms of cancer. Read more
An interesting, and important, addendum to my last post on the delicious, nutritious egg:
Today, as I do nearly every Thursday afternoon, I visited my local farmer’s market. I arrived right as it opened, because the pasture-raised eggs by Skagit River Ranch are the first things to go. These eggs are laid by hens that live in the thick pasture eating grasses, greens and grubs…just as nature intended them to do. The yolks are a rich bright orange from all the beta carotene the hens get from eating grass. I chatted with Eiko, the farmer, as I picked up my weekly dozen (along with a pound of the best hamburger I have ever tasted) and she told me something very interesting. Skagit River Ranch recently analyzed their eggs for omega-3 content. I was delightfully shocked that these pasture-raised hens were producing eggs with 21 times the amount of omega-3 fatty acids as commercial eggs!
Jess, I read that sugar is actually addictive. Is it really that bad for you in even in moderation? Thanks, T.G
Interesting question. We could have quite a long discussion about what “addictive” is or isn’t, but let’s look at a recent 
study that came to my attention yesterday while perusing Dr. Mercola’s site: “Intense Sweetness Surpasses Cocaine Reward”.
“An astonishing 94 percent of rats, who were allowed to choose mutually-exclusively between sugar water and cocaine, chose sugar. Even rats who were addicted to cocaine quickly switched their preference to sugar, once it was offered as a choice. The rats were also more willing to work for sugar than for cocaine.” Read more
Dear Jess, I heard that almonds are now required to be pasteurized. Can that possibly be true? -AS
Yes. It is true. Starting September 1, 2007, it will no longer be legal to manufacture and sell 100% raw almonds in the United States. Due to a mandate passed by the USDA, FDA and the California Almond Board ALL almonds, organic and conventional, grown in the US will be required to be pasteurized. Note that these almonds will still be labeled as raw!
The mandatory pasteurization program requires that almond handlers achieve a dramatic reduction in the amount of Salmonella (technically, a 4-log reduction is the standard) by one of these methods:
1) Expose almonds to high heat or steam pasteurization sufficient to raise the temperature of the almond kernel to 200 degrees F.
2) Fumigate the almonds with propylene oxide gas. Read more
Dear Jess, I work in an office setting and several of my co-workers always seem to be coming down with colds and other illnesses. Do you have any suggestions for boosting my immune system to avoid getting sick? Thanks much, BA
The immune system is one of the most amazing systems in the body incorporating several of the body’s most complex mechanisms. This entire system works to protect your from foreign invaders like viruses, bacteria, fungi and other micro-organisms. It is also the immune system’s job to scout out and destroy cancer cells. While most of us are familiar with the consequences of an under-active immune system (frequent colds and infections, increased cancer risk), there is also the other end of the spectrum – over-activity of the immune system - that sets the stage for the body to attack itself and is manifested in diseases like allergies, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Both are important to address.
It is a paradox – a robust immune system supports your good health and, conversely, your good health is essential to supporting your immune system. Read more
